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I R. W. SCOTT.

ART 0]? NARROWING KNITTED WEBS.

No. 410,858. Patented Sept. 10, 1889.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES TTPATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT \V. SCOTT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALFTO LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS, OF SAME PLACE.

ART OF NARROWlN lG KNITTED WEBS.

. I n SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,858, datedSeptember 10, 1889.

Application filed May 16, 1889.

T aZZ whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, ROBERT W. SCOTT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in the Art of N arrowing Knitted WVebs, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of my invention is to effect the narrowing of knitted webswithout the use IO of transfer points or pickers for conveying thestitch to be dropped from one needle to another, an d this object Iattain by so manipulating the needles of the machine that a stitch maybe transferred directly from one needle to the next needle of themachine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are diagrams illustratingone method of carrying out my invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofa needle employed, by preference, for the purpose of facilitating thisplan of carrying out the invention; and Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are diagramsillustrating other methods of carrying out the invention.

In the ordinary practice of narrowing knitted webs, it is usual totransfer a stitch from one needle to the next needle of the row by meansof atransferring point or picker, which catches the loop, lifts it fromthe needle on which it was formed, and transfers it laterally to saidnext needle of the row; but the manipulation of such transferring-pointsis necessarily a comparatively slowone and interferes with the rapidoperation of the machine. I therefore effect the transfer of the stitchfrom one needle to another by manipulation of the needles themselves inthe following maner:

A B represent two needles suitably guided on opposite needle-beds set atan angle to each other in a manner common in certain classes ofknitting-machines, the needles rising and falling in their inclinedplanes, so as to receive the thread from a guide traversedlongitudinally along the machine, the thread being first applied to theneedles on one side and then to the needles on the opposite side of themachine, if a single web is to be produced, or being applied insuccession first to a needle on one side and then to a needle on {SerialNo. 310,965. (No model.)

gthe opposite side of the machine,

Eweb is desired.

In order to effect the narrowing of the web in accordance with the firstof the plans shown in the drawings, I raise simultaneously the endacting needle on each side of the ma- "chine, such end needles being,for instance,

:represented by the needlesA and B in Fig. 1.

Supposing that the stitch is to be transferred from the needle A to theneedle B, said nee- :dle A is raised somewhat higher than in theordinary operation of the machine, so that the loop 0:, carried by theneedle, is caught by a shoulder 00, formed on the needle, preferably byrecessing one side of the same, as shown in Fig. 3, the loop beingthereby stretched or elevated, as shown in Fig. 1. The needle B is thenprojected to such an extent that its hook is brought up into line withthe shank of the needle A, this movement not being suiiicient to slipback of its latch its own loop y, but insuring the opening of the latch,and

on the descent of the needleAthe loop :20 will be caught by the needle13 and held thereby,

the latch of the needle A closing as the needle is withdrawn, so as tocast off the loop cc,

which is now carried wholly by the needle B,

as shown in Fig. 2, and is cast off said needle if a ribbed 50 alongwith its own stitch y when the next course of stitches is formed. In thesame way a stitch can be transferred from the end needle B to the nextneedle A until the web has been narrowed to the desired extent. IAlthough I have described and prefer the formation of a shoulder uponthe needle as the means of catching and lifting the loop of thread asthe needle rises, such construction of the needle is not absolutelynecessary to the proper carrying out of my invention, as the stitch maybe raised by means of movable sinkers 1), these sinkers being actuatedby a 0 picker d, which is reciprocated by a traversing cam f, as shownin Fig. 6, the picker being moved from sinker to sinker as the narrowingprogresses; or the reverse method of operation may be adoptedthat is tosay, the needle which is to receive the stitch may be caused to assume alower plane than that in which it normally works, so that on beingprojected it will be in position to receive the stitch hanging in itsnormal position on the needle on the opposite side of the machine. Thismethod of operation is illustrated in Figs. i and 5, in which theneedles are represented as supported by bars (1, adapted at their outerends to inclined bearings a on the needle-bar, so that when advanced, asshown in Fig. it, these bars hold the needles in their elevated ornormal working position, but upon retracting a bar the needle supportedthereby is dropped to a lower plane, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to enterthe loop of the opposite needle.

My improved method of narrowing involves the transfer of the stitchwhich is to be dropped from a needle of one row to a needle of theopposite row, instead of to the next needle of the same row, as usual,and this results in a novel effect in the narrowed web, as set forth ina separate application for patent, which I have filed of even dateherewith, Serial No. 310,964.

It will be evident that my invention may be carried out either in theproduction of tubular webs, or webs with opposite selvaged edgesnarrowed in the body of the web, or flat ribbed webs produced by thejoint action of both sets of needles.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1. The mode herein described of narrowing a knitted web,said mode consisting in transferring a stitch directly from one needleto another by bringing the receiving-needle into position to take thestitch from the needle on which it was formed, and then operating thelatter needle so as to east the stitch substantially as specified.

2. The mode described of eitecting the narnowing of a knitted web, saidmode consisting in raising the stitch to be transferred, bringingforward the receiving-needle into position to take said stitch, and thenoperating the needle on whichthe stitch was formed, so as to cast saidstitch, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT W. SCOTT.

\Vitnesses:

WILLIAM I). CONNER, HARRY SMITH.

